The Civil Rights Division in the 21st Century:
Looking Back and Moving Forward
January 31, 9:30 am - 4:00 pm
Howard Law School
2900 Van Ness St NW, Washington, DC 20008
This event is open to former and current Civil RIghts Division employees
(and former and current DOJ employees who have worked with the Division), plus their guests.
Registration is required, for either in-person or remote attendance.
IF YOU NEED A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION,
PLEASE EMAIL [email protected] ASAP.
In-person registration is closed.
To register for remote attendance, the RSVP button is to the right: we'll send you a zoom link on 1/30.
Howard School of Law
CRDA Co-President
Former Ass’t Attorney General
Bosserman
Ruisanchez
States United
Democracy Center
Special Thanks to Our Generous Event Sponsors
Speaker Bios
Sam Bagenstos
Sam Bagenstos worked in the Division’s Appellate Section from 1994-1997, and served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General from 2009-11. He was OMB General Counsel (2021-2022) and HHS General Counsel (2022-2024). He is currently the Frank G. Millard Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, and the Arlene Susan Kohn Professor of Social Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Chiraag Bains
Chiraag Bains served as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General (2014-17) and as a Trial Attorney in the Criminal Section (2010-14) of the Civil Rights Division. Chiraag also served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council (2021-23). Since leaving government, Chiraag has worked as a senior fellow at Democracy Fund and nonresident senior fellow at Brookings.
Anna Baldwin
Anna Baldwin served as a trial attorney and senior attorney in the Voting (2010 - 2015) and Appellate (2015-2025) Sections. They received the Division’s Walter Barnett Memorial Award. They currently serve as Director of Voting Rights Litigation at the Campaign Legal Center, and as a visiting lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School.
Chris Berger
Chris Berger served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General (2024-2025) and as an attorney in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division (2015-2017). She also served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to the Attorney General. She is the Patricia Bauman Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center, where she focuses on civil rights, professional responsibility and ethics, democracy, and rule of law issues.
Barbara Bosserman
Barbara Bosserman served in the Criminal Section from 2000 to 2025, retiring in April. She held various positions, including Deputy Chief / Senior Legal Counsel. Among other assignments, she supervised legal research and the Cold Case unit.
Michael Campion
Michael Campion served in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of New Jersey, from 2007-2025, as Civil Rights Chief beginning 2016. Working with the Civil RIghts Division, he led civil rights investigations and lawsuits relating to fair housing and lending, disability discrimination, voting, employment, institutionalized persons, and religious freedom. He also supervised criminal investigations and prosecutions involving hate crimes, color of law violations, and access to reproductive health centers. Currently, he serves as Deputy Director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (NJ DCR), the New Jersey state agency charged with enforcing New Jersey's civil rights laws.
Kristen Clarke
Kristen Clarke was the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights from 2021 to 2025. She previously served as president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and held leadership roles at the New York State Attorney General's Office and NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Currently, she leads Howard University School of Law's Civil Rights Clinic and is a Distinguished Lecturer of Civil Rights Law at Penn Carey Law.
Jon Greenbaum
Jon Greenbaum was a senior trial attorney in the Voting Section from 1997-2003 and is the Vice President of the Civil Rights Division Association. Jon founded Justice Legal Strategies PLLC in 2024 after a long tenure as Chief Counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Vanita Gupta
Vanita Gupta served as United States Associate Attorney General from 2021-24, and as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights from 2014-17. She has been the ACLU’s deputy legal director and President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She is now Director of the Center for Law and Public Trust and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at NYU School of Law. She recently launched and leads the NGO Solidarity Network, which protects nonprofit organizations.
Paul Hancock
Paul Hancock, co-president of the CRDA, served in the Civil Rights Division from 1970 to 1997. He was a trial attorney in the Education Section (1970-1976), Assistant for Litigation in the Voting Section (1976-1988), Chief of the Housing & Civil Enforcement Section (1988-1997), and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General (1997). He later was Florida’s Deputy Attorney General for South Florida. He has been in private practice, currently with K&L Gates LLP, since 2003, with a practice focusing on civil rights compliance issues. He serves on the K&L Gates world-wide Pro Bono Committee.
Daria Neal
Daria Neal was the Chief of the Policy and Strategy Section from 2024 through 2025 and served as a Deputy Chief in the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section from 2010 to 2024. She led the Division’s work to advance environmental justice and received the Division’s John Dunne Award. Daria is currently an Adjunct Professor at Howard University School of Law and George Washington University Law School.
Steven H. Rosenbaum
Steven H. Rosenbaum served in the Civil Rights Division for 46 years, from 1978 to 2024. He was the chief of three sections: Housing and Civil Enforcement (2003 to 2015), Special Litigation (1996 to 2003, and 2016 to 2024) and Voting (1992 to 1994). He also worked in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General, the Appellate Section, and the Employment Litigation Section. In 2013, President Obama recognized Steve with a Senior Executive Service Distinguished Rank Award. Steve also received the Department’s Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award and the Division’s John Doar Award, as well as the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a CRDA Board member.
Alberto Ruisanchez
Alberto Ruisanchez was a paralegal in the Division from 1996 to 1998, and served from 2002 to 2025 in various attorney roles in the Housing and Civil Enforcement, Voting, Disability Rights, and Immigrant and Employee Rights Sections. He is currently a lecturer at Stanford University’s Washington DC campus and will begin working for Catholic Charities Legal Network in 2026. He is a member of CRDA’s Board.
Regan Rush
Regan Rush served in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2025, holding a series of leadership positions including Trial Attorney, Deputy Chief, Principal Deputy Chief, and Chief of the Special Litigation Section. Her work centered on the systemic enforcement of civil rights against public institutions, particularly disability rights enforcement in the Olmstead context.
Margo Schlanger
Margo Schlanger is the co-President of the CRDA. She was a trial attorney and senior trial attorney in Special Litigation from 1995 to 1998, DHS Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties from 2011 to 2012, and Special Advisor to USDA’s Secretary, focusing on civil rights matters, from 2021 through 2024. She is currently the Wade H. and Dores M. McCree Collegiate Professor of Law, and the Director, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, at the University of Michigan Law School.
Jon Seward
Jon Seward served as a trial attorney and deputy chief in the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section from 1994 to 2003. After serving as a vice president at Fannie Mae he returned to the Division and served as a deputy chief and principal deputy chief from 2007 to 2023. He was the architect of the Division’s One Division Program. He received numerous Division and Department awards, including the Division’s John Doar Award before retiring in 2023.
Rob Shriver
Rob Shriver served as the Acting Director, Deputy Director and in other senior roles of the United States Office of Personnel Management in the Biden and Obama Administrations. Rob is the Managing Director of the Civil Service Strong and Good Government Initiatives at Democracy Forward.
Shaheena Simons
Shaheena Simons served in the Civil Rights Division from 2007-2025, including as Chief of the Educational Opportunities Section, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General (2021 detail), and senior trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section. She is currently Senior Advisor for Strategy & Programs at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Sam Trepel
Sam Trepel served in the Civil Rights Division from 2002-2004 and 2009-2025, including as a Special Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Section and trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section. She also served as a Deputy Associate Attorney General. Sam is currently a Program Director at States United Democracy Center, focusing on the rule of law.
Joy Welan
Joy Welan served in the Disability Rights Section from 2009-2017 and 2019-2025. Most recently, Joy was one of the deputy chiefs who supervised the Section’s regulatory and policy work. As a line attorney, she worked on ADA regulations, general ADA enforcement, and the Division’s early Olmstead enforcement. Joy is currently a senior attorney advisor at the National Council on Disability.
Katie Wolfe
Katie Wolfe spent more than two decades in the Civil Rights Division including as Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Special Litigation Counsel. She also served as Senior Counsel in the Office of the Associate Attorney General. Currently, she is of counsel in Cohen Milstein’s Civil Rights & Employment practice.
The CRDA is a non-partisan organization for current and former employees of the Civil Rights Division, and current and former DOJ employees who have worked on Division-related issues. Our mission is:
Shaping the future of civil rights by honoring the legacy of the Civil Rights Division and by supporting its community of former and current employees.
CRDA Board:
Roy Austin; Tovah R. Calderon; Marta Campos; Lisa Wilson Edwards; Carol Evans; Deena Fox; Jon Greenbaum (Vice President); Paul F. Hancock (co-President); Oneshia Herring; Stuart Ishimaru; Richard Jerome (Treasurer); Loretta King; Brian Landsberg; Amanda Maisels; Sharon McGowan; Ed Reibman; Joseph Rich; Jennifer Robins; Steve Rosenbaum; Alberto Ruisanchez; Corey Sanders; Margo Schlanger (co-President); Sam Trepel; John Wodatch; Katie Wolfe
